A number of dental implants are disclosed in various United States patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,532 to Mozsary is directed to a dental implant system that includes a serrated cylindrical root 12 which is implanted into the jawbone and receives the threaded end of a crown support post 34. The crown 44 is supported directly by the conical shaped upper portion 40 of the crown support post 34. A resilient member 48 is placed between the root 12 and the post 34 in order to absorb or cushion forces which are applied to the crown 44.
In addition, a number of prior art patents disclose the use of resilient materials or structures as shock absorbing segments within a dental implant structure. Exemplary of these patents are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,863,344 to Pillet, 3,934,347 to Lash et al., 4,081,908 to Sneer, 4,318,696 to Kasama et al., 3,827,145 to Richards, 4,215,986 to Reiss, and 4,416,629 to Mozsary et al.
Prior art devices fail to eliminate cratering of alveolar bone adjacent the implant, unfortunately, because even when such implants include resilient, shock-absorbing structures, the implant as a whole is nonetheless subject to rotational forces which cause greater stress to be applied to the alveolar ridge than is applied to the endosteal bone. At the same time, the periosteal surface of the alveolar bone is less able to withstand stress than is the endosteum. A need remains, therefore, for a dental implant which not only provides an implant receptor, in the general manner of prior art devices, but which also minimizes cratering in the alveolar bone in order to maximize permanence of the dental implant.